The finale of Attack on Titan, The Final Season: Part Two finally revealed what pushed Eren over the edge and into the genocidal abyss.
The following contains spoilers for Attack on Titan Season 4, Episode 28, "The Dawn of Humanity," now streaming on Funimation, Hulu and Crunchyroll.
Eren Jaeger's genocidal plans in Attack on Titan are indefensible, but the finale of The Final Season: Part Two confirmed that, at least at first, he wasn't on board with it either. A flashback to the period between the end of Season 3 and the beginning of Season 4 depicted the Scouts' first survey into Marley, where they aimed to learn more about their new enemy and hopefully find a path to peace. Unfortunately, this excursion was the beginning of the end once Eren received confirmation that the horrific future he'd seen when he kissed Historia's hand was inevitable.
Eren's personality completely changed after he saw the future, turning him into a gloomy shell of his former self. When he kissed Historia's hand at the end of Season 3, he saw the future via his father's memories of an encounter with a future version of Eren. It's still unclear just how far into the future he saw, but "The Dawn of Humanity" revealed that he saw at least as far as the Rumbling. When he and Mikasa looked down on a refugee camp in Marley, Eren solemnly commented that nothing had happened to them "yet." His subsequent question for Mikasa regarding what she feels for him smelt of desperation in the face of certain doom.
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Now, it can be safely assumed that he became this way because he'd seen the future in which he activated the Rumbling, becoming the harbinger of death and destruction who'd cause the entire world to tremble at the sound of his name. However, even after Mikasa's disappointing response that she saw him as family, he still cheerfully committed to a night of heavy drinking with his friends and the refugees, so he hadn't lost all hope yet. The main reason the Scouts visited Marley in the first place was not just reconnaissance and partying, but to attend a rally in which the topic of Eldian salvation was going to be discussed.
Marley isn’t the only nation with a grudge against Eldians, as the Subjects of Ymir are despised the world over for the crimes of their ancestors who used Titans to conquer the world by drowning it in blood. The tiny island nation of Paradis Island would simply stand no chance if the whole world united in ending the Eldian race, so the outcome of this rally was critical to the island's survival. Unfortunately, the man leading the rally only advocated for the protection of Subjects of Ymir in the outside world -- and that the Island Devil Eldians of Paradis were the only portion of Ymir's Subjects who deserved the world's ire.
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The man's hateful condemnation of Paradis Island drew raucous applause, all but slamming the door on any possible peaceful solution to the tension between it and Marley. Eren in particular was crushed by this development, and it ended up being the final straw before he fully committed to his plan to team up with Zeke, overthrow Paradis and activate the Rumbling. When Eren left this meeting, he infiltrated Marley by mutilating his own body and posing as a victim of the war that Marley was fighting when Season 4 began. His friends didn't see him again until they came to his aid when he launched his attack on the Liberio Internment Zone -- and by that point, Eren was well and truly lost to them.
It seems most likely that the future Eren saw showed him he was going to unleash the Rumbling on the world, but not why. It would certainly be a heavy thing to witness the monster you're going to become without any context, and to his credit, Eren did hold out hope that the future he saw was not set in stone. Unfortunately for him and Attack on Titan's world at large, that dark future has arrived now that the Rumbling has made landfall in Marley and the carnage has begun. The man at that rally may never know the horror he unleashed by confirming to Eren Jaeger that the only salvation for Paradis Island was the death of everyone in the outside world.
Ryan is an enthusiastic fan of the film and television industry, particularly interested in the creative process. Some people need a white noise machine to relax at night, but Ryan needs an audio commentary. Making a living by talking about the movies and shows he loves is his dream. You can find him complaining about Rise of Skywalker on Twitter as @RickeySpanish because even his Twitter handle is an American Dad reference.
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